Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) Stake Increased by Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc.

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 2.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,805,045 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 125,690 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. owned approximately 0.59% of Applied Materials worth $781,444,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of AMAT. Swedbank AB lifted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 2.6% in the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 4,244,566 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $857,615,000 after purchasing an additional 108,827 shares in the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 5.2% in the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 7,368 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,489,000 after purchasing an additional 365 shares in the last quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 15.1% in the third quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 5,775 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,167,000 after purchasing an additional 759 shares in the last quarter. F M Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the third quarter valued at $437,000. Finally, Pure Financial Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 6.0% during the third quarter. Pure Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,709 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $345,000 after acquiring an additional 97 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently issued reports on AMAT shares. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “underweight” rating and set a $164.00 price objective (down from $179.00) on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Thursday, December 5th. KeyCorp upgraded Applied Materials from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $225.00 price objective for the company in a report on Friday, January 17th. Mizuho cut their price objective on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 10th. Barclays cut their price objective on Applied Materials from $200.00 to $190.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price objective on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $200.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $215.38.

Applied Materials Stock Down 3.8 %

AMAT stock opened at $152.13 on Tuesday. Applied Materials, Inc. has a twelve month low of $150.67 and a twelve month high of $255.89. The company has a market cap of $123.60 billion, a PE ratio of 19.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.53. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $175.07 and its 200 day simple moving average is $182.35. The company has a quick ratio of 1.96, a current ratio of 2.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.38 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.28 by $0.10. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 39.50% and a net margin of 22.95%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 20th will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.05%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.92%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 271 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.72, for a total transaction of $46,807.12. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 6,479 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,119,052.88. This trade represents a 4.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.24% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Applied Materials Profile

Applied Materials, Inc engages in the provision of manufacturing equipment, services, and software to the semiconductor, display, and related industries. The company operates through three segments: Semiconductor Systems, Applied Global Services, and Display and Adjacent Markets. The Semiconductor Systems segment develops, manufactures, and sells various manufacturing equipment that is used to fabricate semiconductor chips or integrated circuits.